The Co-Ed Movie Theater in Boiling Springs, NC

In the early 50s, Boiling Springs, NC had a movie theater, the Co-Ed, aptly named since Boiling Springs was the home of Gardner-Webb Junior College.  As a pre-teenager and early teen-ager I remember going to many movies there.  My father would take me and my friends who lived along the way.  We'd get dropped off at the movie, and Daddy would pick us up after the movie ended.  There were a lot of musicals in the early 50s and I recall one in particular that I saw there, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.

I saw this movie at the Co-Ed Theater in the early 50s.

By the time I was a student at Gardner-Webb (1955 to 1957), I don't remember if the theater was open or not.  In any case, when I was dating we always went into Shelby to the movies or to a drive-in.  I can't ever remember going to the Co-Ed while I was a student at GW.

Gardner-Webb is now a university, and the building that housed the movie theater has been converted to the Italian Garden Restaurant.  When I was in Cleveland County last week, my friend Peggy Jean and I had dinner there.  Peggy Jean was one those who frequently went to the Co-Ed with me, and we had a good time reminiscing about movies we had seen there.

The Italian Garden Restaurant.

Entrance to Italian Garden Restaurant.

 The theater was sloped from back to front, and the seating areas of the restaurant are tiered because of this.  The sloping aisle is still there.

Interior of Italian Garden Restaurant.

Yes, I have many a happy memory of this old building whether viewing a movie there in the 50s or having dinner with friends there in the present.